Portuguese Golden Visa
Assess the immigration plan before committing investment funds. Oliveira Lawyers helps investors and their families examine Portugal’s Golden Visa route and coordinate the legal documentation for the agreed application work. Our international team helps English-speaking clients coordinate their plans with legal support in Portugal.
Our selective approach. We focus on clients who value their time, want candid advice, and prefer an established international law firm to manage the agreed legal work. Learn about our firm and approach.
Why Clients Choose Oliveira Lawyers
- Judgment and experience that matter. We review the proposed investment route, source-of-funds records, family plans, and residence goals. Eligibility and documentation are assessed before the application is built around a transaction.
- An attorney responsible, with progress you can follow. Our attorneys and team coordinate preparation, applications, and authority responses. Your online board shows documents and next steps.
- Local support in Portugal, with an international reach. Our Lisbon office supports the Portugal work, with Brazilian and U.S. offices helping coordinate documents from abroad.
- Preparation for the next stage. We coordinate the immigration file, supporting investment records, and appointment preparation. Renewals and ongoing documentation are considered as part of the plan from the outset.
- A relationship that makes the next step easier. An investment can also raise property, succession, and tax questions. We identify related legal needs and define specialist coordination or additional services separately.
Experience you can verify. Read client feedback on our broader Portugal visa work.
Start with an online consultation to discuss your investment plans, family circumstances, and document preparation.
Guide reviewed October 13, 2026.
Portugal’s Golden Visa: What It Offers Today
Portugal’s Golden Visa, formally the residence permit for investment activity (ARI), allows qualifying investors from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland to obtain Portuguese residence. It can suit families who want a base in Portugal with limited required stays, provided they can sustain a qualifying investment and meet the immigration requirements.
Buying a property no longer qualifies for a new Golden Visa application. The property and general capital-transfer routes closed to new applications on October 7, 2023. Existing permits and qualifying pending cases have transitional provisions; their renewal or conversion needs a case-specific review under Articles 42–43 of Law 56/2023.
Qualifying Investment Routes
The current routes below have distinct conditions. Under Article 3 of Portugal’s immigration law, qualifying activities cannot be directed, directly or indirectly, toward real estate investment.
Investment Funds — €500,000
Acquire interests in non-real-estate collective investment vehicles constituted under Portuguese law. At investment, their maturity must be at least five years, and at least 60% of the investment value must be invested in companies headquartered in Portugal.
Check the vehicle’s structure, underlying assets, supporting declarations, fees, liquidity, and exit terms before subscribing. Marketing a fund as “Golden Visa eligible” does not guarantee immigration approval, capital protection, or a return.
Company Capital and Employment — €500,000
Establish a Portuguese company and create five permanent jobs; or increase an existing Portuguese company’s share capital and create at least five permanent jobs, or maintain at least ten jobs, including five permanent positions. The statutory company route includes a minimum three-year period.
The employment requirement and the wider ARI investment-maintenance rules must be considered together. A three-year business plan should not be treated as an automatic right to withdraw the investment.
Scientific Research — €500,000
Fund research carried out by qualifying public or private scientific institutions within Portugal’s national scientific and technological system. The minimum may fall to €400,000 for a qualifying activity in a legally designated low-density territory.
Arts and Cultural Heritage — €250,000
Support artistic production or the restoration or maintenance of national cultural heritage through an eligible entity. The minimum may fall to €200,000 for qualifying activity in a low-density territory. Confirm both the project and recipient’s eligibility before transferring funds.
Job Creation — 10 Jobs
Create at least ten jobs in Portugal. A qualifying low-density activity may reduce this requirement to eight. This is a separate route from the €500,000 company-capital option and requires evidence of qualifying employment.
The 20% low-density reduction applies only to the job-creation, research, and cultural routes. It does not reduce the €500,000 fund or company-capital thresholds. A location’s eligibility must be verified under the legal definition.
From Investment Review to Residence
The application is handled by AIMA. Before committing funds, review the applicant’s immigration history, family eligibility, source-of-funds evidence, investment documents, and intended time in Portugal.
- Prepare the investment and documents. Arrange the appropriate tax and banking formalities, complete the qualifying investment, and assemble identity, criminal-record, family, and investment evidence.
- Submit the application. The investor or authorized representative registers the case through the AIMA ARI process, uploads the required documents, and pays the application charge.
- Respond and attend. Address document requests and attend the notified appointment for identity checks, documents, and biometrics. Foreign records may need fresh copies, translations, and apostilles or legalization.
- Plan for the residence permit. Following approval and payment of the applicable issuance charge, track the permit’s expiry, required stays, and evidence needed for renewal.
Timing depends on the file, document updates, AIMA’s workload, and appointment availability. A fixed 10–14 month completion promise would not be reliable. Plan travel around confirmed instructions and review entry requirements separately.
Budget Beyond the Investment
The investment threshold is not an all-inclusive price. Budget for AIMA application, issuance, and renewal charges for the people included, as well as legal work, translations, certifications, banking or fund charges, and travel. Request an itemized estimate for your family.
AIMA updated its fee table effective March 1, 2026. Consult the current official fee notice and table rather than relying on an older total quoted online.
Including Your Family
Eligible family members can apply through the ARI family-reunification procedure. A spouse or qualifying partner, children, and certain dependent relatives may qualify, subject to the applicable relationship, age, dependency, and documentation requirements.
Assess each person before investing: adult children and dependent parents require particular attention. A family application is not automatic, and each person’s permit and renewal obligations must be tracked.
Maintaining Your Golden Visa
The minimum stay is seven days during the first year and fourteen days during each subsequent two-year period. Keep suitable evidence of your visits and assess family members’ requirements against their own permits.
The investment framework generally requires at least five years of qualifying activity. Continued ARI renewal depends on maintaining the applicable requirements; reaching five years does not itself authorize an investment exit. Review any redemption, sale, or restructuring before acting.
Track your actual card expiry and AIMA’s current renewal instructions. AIMA now handles ARI renewals electronically through its Renewals Portal, with an in-person appointment when biometrics are requested. The official ARI FAQs explain the current procedure and supporting evidence.
Permanent Residence and Citizenship Are Separate
Permanent residence: holding temporary residence for at least five years may support an application, subject to the applicable conditions, including basic Portuguese, means of support, accommodation, and criminal-record requirements. It is a separate application, not an automatic upgrade.
Citizenship: the former blanket statement that investors can apply after five years is no longer accurate for new ordinary naturalization applications. Since May 19, 2026, the residence requirement is generally ten years for U.S. and other non-EU/non-Portuguese-speaking-country nationals, or seven years for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU Member States.
Other statutory conditions include Portuguese language and cultural/civic knowledge, a declaration of adherence to democratic principles, subsistence, and criminal/security requirements. Nationality proceedings already pending when the new law took effect remain subject to the prior law; a pending Golden Visa application alone is not that protection. See Organic Law 1/2026, Articles 6–8 and the republished nationality law.
Tax Planning Requires a Separate Review
A Golden Visa does not automatically make you a Portuguese tax resident or exempt your foreign income. Tax residence, investment taxation, and reporting obligations depend on your circumstances and may involve Portugal and your home country.
The former Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime was repealed from January 1, 2024, with protection for existing beneficiaries and specified transitional cases. Any available incentive requires its own eligibility assessment. See the Portuguese Tax Authority’s NHR guidance. U.S. clients should coordinate Portuguese planning with their U.S. tax adviser before investing.
Common Questions
Can I buy a home in Portugal while applying?
Yes, but buying that home does not qualify a new Golden Visa application. Review the property purchase separately from the eligible investment supporting your residence case.
Must I move to Portugal full time?
The ARI route has limited minimum stays, described above. If your goal is to live in Portugal on retirement income or remote earnings, compare the D7 and D8 routes on our Portugal immigration page before committing investment capital.
Can I work in Portugal with this residence permit?
ARI residence allows work in Portugal. It does not grant a general right to settle or work throughout the EU; another country’s immigration rules still apply.
Does the lowest investment amount mean the lowest overall cost?
No. A cultural contribution and an investment fund have different financial characteristics. Compare recoverability, risk, fees, tax treatment, and immigration evidence, alongside the minimum amount.
Can my family and I obtain passports when the investment ends?
No automatic passport entitlement follows from the investment. Each person must qualify under the nationality rules applicable to their own case, and investment exit must be coordinated with the family’s residence status.
Discuss Your Investment and Residence Plan
Bring your intended route, family details, proposed investment documents, and travel goals to the initial discussion. We can assess the immigration issues, identify the evidence needed, and define the legal work and specialist coordination before you proceed.